Category: Trending

Despite Frank Ocean being one of the world’s biggest superstars, capable of headlining Coachella, no one ever seems to know exactly what he’s up to. That is, of course, by design; the famously reclusive singer-songwriter flies way below the radar, eschewing the trappings of fame for a much more humble — and mysterious — existence.

So, anytime he surfaces, there’s usually a flurry of interest. Fans can’t get enough of wondering whether he’ll release new work, announce a tour, an odd sex toy, or in this case, debut a new look. The avant-garde performer born Christopher Edwin Breaux popped back up recently with a new selfie, revealing that in his absence from the spotlight, he’s not only grown a full beard but also some truly luxurious, shoulder-length locks.

Of course, this new appearance gives him a very strong resemblance to a certain religious figure that many a Black grandma had a painting of hanging on the wall, and fans just couldn’t stop making exactly that joke in response.

Of course, there were some other creative entries to the joke canon. One fan pointed out Frank’s aesthetic similarity to a character in one of hip-hop’s cinematic staples, while others lamented their own resemblance to the newly hirsute singer.

The winner is, of course, professional comic Zack Fox, who gave his take on Instagram:

However, all this might be moot; the image appears to be yet another example of the misleading realism of AI and deepfake technology. It’s getting truly scary out here! Whatever the real Frank Ocean is doing, let’s all hope this doesn’t freak him out and send him even further underground, or we might never get new music from him again.

The Los Angeles Chargers may have someone else lining up to Justin Herbert in the backfield next year. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Chargers and standout running back Austin Ekeler failed to progress in talks on a contract extension, and as a result, the team has given Ekeler permission to look for a trade elsewhere.

The news comes one day after Ekeler requested a trade over the way contract talks were going. The former undrafted free agent is on an extremely team-friendly deal right now, as he is in the final year of a 4-year, $24.5 million contract that is slated to give him a $7.75 million cap hit this season. He will turn 28 in May.

Over the years, Ekeler has turned into one of Herbert’s favorite targets in addition to what he does running the football. Last season, no player accounted for more touchdowns than Ekeler, who ran for 13 and caught another five. It was his second straight season leading the league in touchdown from scrimmage, as he tied with Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor with 20 total scores in 2021. In all, Ekeler ran the ball 204 times for 915 yards during the 2022 campaign and caught 107 passes for another 722 yards.

Losing Ekeler would be yet another major change for the Charger offense during the offseason, as the team has already brought in a new coordinator in former Dallas Cowboys OC Kellen Moore.

Going into the You Season 4 premiere, star Penn Badgley dropped what probably felt like a bombshell to fans of the hit Netflix series: He no longer wanted to film sex scenes. At the time Badgley chalked the decision up to wanting to preserve “fidelity” to his marriage, and it wasn’t long until the internet was off to the races. The Discourse around Badgley’s decision fluctuated between speculation that he got caught cheating or he was erroneously equating the scenes with, well, actual sex.

In a new interview, the actor makes it clear that he saw the online chatter, and while he didn’t quite understand the backlash, he knows the internet is going to internet. Via GQ:

Badgley says that he was somewhat taken aback by the reaction to his comments, which feel “blown out of proportion”, but is all too aware of how the internet takes things out of context. “What I was speaking about wasn’t actually the final product,” he says. “It was sort of like the culture inherent to the production of all movies, but particularly those scenes. It’s like, look, we know that Hollywood has had a history of flagrant exploitation and abuse.”

Despite the backlash, Badgley opened up even more about his stance on longer filming intimacy scenes and how it could affect his career moving forward.

“I was nervous to even have that conversation,” Badgley said about telling You creator Sera Gamble. “It was not easy. It was easy because of Sera’s response, and I felt relieved. But technically speaking, if I thought I’d had the ability to set that boundary earlier, I would have.”

He added, “We shall see if setting that boundary, of course, has any ramifications. Just simply, it does limit the number of projects you can be a part of.”

(Via GQ)

Lindsay Lohan is about to be a mom. Not like a regular mom, a cool mom.

The Mean Girls star shared a cheeky pregnancy announcement on Instagram Tuesday with a photo of a white onesie with the words “Coming Soon” in black lettering on the front. She captioned the image saying, “We are happy and blessed,” before sneaking in a few appropriately-themed emojis for good measure.

Lohan met her husband, financier Bader Shammas, in Dubai around 2018 and the two secretly tied the knot sometime in 2022. Now the couple is expecting their first child together and fans are losing it, sharing memes from some of Lohan’s most popular movies and hyping this next stage of the Lohanaissance.

Lohan, who currently lives in Dubai with Shammas, told TMZ the pair are “very excited for our new family member to arrive and we are looking forward to this next chapter of our lives!” Lohan’s been making a comeback of sorts over the past few years, scoring a two-picture deal with Netflix while her former co-star Jamie Lee Curtis stokes rumors that a Freaky Friday sequel might be on the horizon. She’s also been rumored to be making a cameo in the Mean Girls Musical movie that Tina Fey is producing.

Now it looks like impending motherhood can be added to her busy schedule.

(Via TMZ)

Michael Imperioli has made up for his bad take about The Sopranos pilot.

The White Lotus actor shared a photo of the transgender flag on his Instagram account, along with the caption, “dear brothers, sisters and siblings. fear not, be strong and don’t let the bastards grind you down. love you.”

When someone in the replies wrote that they were unfollowing him, Imperioli wrote back, “you should,” followed by “hurry up.” He also said that such people make him “ashamed” and they’re “not allowed to watch my shows anymore.”

You can see the interaction below.

This isn’t the first time that Imperioli has voiced his support for the LGBTQ+ community. After Qatar World Cup ambassador Khalid Salman described homosexuality as “damage in the mind,” the actor replied, “Since being gay is illegal in Qatar, anyone attending the world cup should obey their rules. How about no one attends or watches or supports this gross display of hate, intolerance and ignorance (which are the true diseases of the mind)? Homophobia sucks. and while we are so does FIFA for accepting blood money to hold their obsolete tournament in Qatar.”

Michael Imperioli seems like a good dude (with good stories about James Gandolfini listening to Dookie in his Sopranos trailer).

Fall Out Boy is gearing up for their first new album in years, with So Much (For) Stardust dropping in just ten more days. Despite band member Joe Trohman announcing he would be stepping away from the band temporarily, they still have a lot of stuff in store for fans.

Here is everything to know about the new record.

Release date

Fall Out Boy’s new album drops on 03/24 via Fueled By Ramen/DCD2. You can pre-save it here.

Tracklist

1. “Love From The Other Side”
2. “Heartbreak Feels So Good”
3. “Hold Me Like A Grudge”
4. “Fake Out”
5. “Heaven, Iowa”
6. “So Good Right Now”
7. “The Pink Shell” (feat. Ethan Hawke)
8. “I Am My Own Muse”
9. “Flu Game”
10. “Baby Annihilation”
11. “The Kintsugi Kid (Ten Years)”
12. “What A Time To Be Alive”
13. “So Much (For) Stardust”

Features

Currently, there is only one feature on So Much (For) Stardust, as actor Ethan Hawke will apparently appear on “The Pink Shell.”

Singles

Fall Out Boy has prefaced their forthcoming album with two singles so far: “Love From The Other Side” and “Heartbreak Feels So Good.”

Tour

The band is set to head out on tour starting this summer. To celebrate their new album, Fall Out Boy is bringing Bring Me The Horizon, Royal & The Serpent, Alkaline Trio, New Found Glory, Four Year Strong, The Academy Is…, Games We Play, Daisy Grenade, and Carr as opening acts for selected dates. A complete list of the North American shows is available here.

Fall Out Boy is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

If you’re a John Wick fan living in Japan, I have good and bad news. Let’s do the bad news first: you won’t be able to see John Wick: Chapter 4 (which rules) until the fall, probably September. It’s unfair, I know, considering everyone else gets to enjoy Keanu Reeves fighting Donnie Yen as soon as later this month. But here’s the good news: if you hang out in a hotel bar in Tokyo, you might see Reeves discussing the future of John Wick over whiskey.

John Wick: Chapter 4 director Chad Stahelski recently did an interview with the Hollywood Reporter where he was asked about whether he and Reeves have considered making more John Wick movies. “In our minds, Keanu and I are done for the moment. We’re going to give John Wick a rest. I’m sure the studio has a plan. If everyone loves it and it goes kooky, then we’ll take a quiet minute,” he said. Stahelski added that the John Wick films, “for some weird reason,” always have “the latest release date in Japan… If it’s the same this time, we’ll do a Japanese tour and release the movie in September.”

Once press tour obligations are over, “Keanu and I will take the long trip to Tokyo, we’ll sit in the Imperial Hotel Scotch Bar and go, ‘What do you think?’ We’ll have a couple 20-year-old whiskies and write some ideas on napkins,” Stahelski said. “If those ideas stick, maybe we’ll make a movie.”

You can book a reservation at the Imperial Hotel for September here, in case you have any good John Wick story ideas. “This time, John Wick kills bad guys with his sidekick, a talking cat.”

(Via the Hollywood Reporter)

Outside of Avril Lavigne being swarmed by a topless protestor during her presentation onstage, the 2023 Juno Awards went off without a hitch. The annual music ceremony for Canadian artists was held last night (March 13) in Edmonton at Rogers Place. Hosted by actor Simu Liu, some of the biggest names in music were present, well, except The Weeknd.

Despite not being present, the Toronto native was awarded five Junos, including Single of the year, Album of the year, and Artist of the year, making him the second most awarded music in Juno Awards history. The top spot is currently being held by Anne Murray. Other notable winners include Jessie Reyez, who not only performed but also took home the award for Contemporary R&B recording of the year for their album, Yessie.

Band Arkells also broke a record. After winning group of the year, the group is now the most awards in that category. Singer Savannah Ré hit a three-peat after winning traditional R&B recording of the year yet again.

View the full list of winners below.

TikTok Juno fan choice

• Avril Lavigne
• Lauren Spencer-Smith
• MacKenzie Porter
• Preston Pablo
• Rêve
• Shawn Mendes
• Tate McRae
• The Reklaws
• The Weeknd
• Tyler Shaw

Single of the year

• “Bite Me” – Avril Lavigne
• “Flowers Need Rain” – Preston Pablo and Banx & Ranx
• “When You’re Gone” – Shawn Mendes
• “She’s all I Wanna Be” – Tate McRae
• “Sacrifice” – The Weeknd

International album of the year

• Ed Sheeran – =
• Harry Styles – Harry’s House
• Lil Nas X – Montero
• Taylor Swift – Midnights
• Taylor Swift – Red (Taylor’s Version)

Album of the year

• Ali Gatie – Who Hurt You?
• Avril Lavigne – Love Sux
• Nav – Demons Protected By Angels
• Tate McRae – I Used to Think I Could Fly,
• The Weeknd – Dawn FM

Artist of the year

• Avril Lavigne
• Lauren Spencer-Smith
• Michael Bublé
• Shawn Mendes
• The Weeknd

Group of the year

• Arcade Fire
• Arkells
• Billy Talent
• Metric
• The Reklaws

Breakthrough artist of the year

• Dax
• Devon Cole
• Preston Pablo
• RealestK
• Rêve

Breakthrough group of the year

• Banx & Ranx
• Harm & Ease
• Rare Americans
• Tommy Lefroy
• Wild Rivers

Songwriter of the year

• Abel Tesfaye: “Less Than Zero” (co-songwriters Tomoko Yamaguch, Hamada Tetsuro, Daniel Lopatin, the Weeknd); “Out of Time” (co-songwriters Max Martin, Fragogian Josefsson, Axel Hedfors, Oscar Holter, Sebastian Ingrosso, Carl Nordstrom, Kevin Duane McCord); “Sacrifice” (co-songwriters Max Martin, Fragogian Josefsson, Axel Hedfors, Oscar Holter, Sebastian Ingrosso, Carl Nordstrom, Kevin Duane McCord).
• Faouzia: “Anybody Else” (co-songwriters Andre Davidson, Michelle Buzz, Sean Davidson);
• “Puppet” (co-songwriters Andre Davidson, Johnny Goldstein, Sean Davidson); “RIP, Love” (co-songwriters Fran Hall, Jakke Erixson).
• Tate McRae: “Chaotic” (co-songwriter Victoria Zaro); “Feel Like Shit” (co-songwriters Victoria Zaro, Jacob Hindlin, Russell J Chell); “She’s all I Wanna Be” (co-songwriter Greogry Kurstin).
• Tenille Townes: “The Last Time” (co-songwriters Gordon Sampson, Benjamin Goldsmith); “When you Need It” (co-songwriter Stephen Wrabel); “When’s it Gonna Happen” (co-songwriters Stephenie Jones, Stephen Wrabel).
• Tobi: “Before we Panic” (co-songwriters Alex Goose, Eric Hagstrom, John Stephen Sudduth, Kevin Martin, Tony Martin, Stephenie Jones, Stephen Wrabel); “Flowers” (co-songwriters Alex Goose, Daniele Luppi, Homer Steinweiss, Nick Movshon, Nicole Wray, Leon Michels, Paul Spring); “Move” (co-songwriters Alex Goose, Jessica Lee Hansell, Jon Bap, Robin Hannibal, Tavon Thompson, Tyler Demorest).

Country album of the year

• High Valley – Way Back
• Jade Eagleson – Honkytonk Revival
• Orville Peck – Bronco
• Tenille Townes – Masquerades
• The Reklaws – Good Ol’ Days

Adult alternative album of the year

• Altameda – Born Losers
• Basia Bulat – The Garden
• Dan Mangan – Being Somewhere
• The Sadies – Colder Streams
• The Weather Station – How is it That I Should Look at the Stars

Alternative album of the year

• Alvvays – Blue Rev
• Luna Li – Duality
• Ombiigizi – Sewn Back Together
• Pup – The Unraveling of PupTheBand
• Tanya Tagaq – Tongues

Pop album of the year

• Alessia Cara – In the Meantime
• Avril Lavigne – Love Sux
• Carly Rae Jepsen – The Loneliest Tim,
• Tate McRae – I Used to Think I Could Fly
• The Weeknd – Dawn FM

Rock album of the year

• Alexisonfire – Otherness
• Billy Talent – Crisis of Faith
• Nickelback – Get Rollin’
• The Sheepdogs – Outta Sight
• Three Days Grace – Explosions

Vocal jazz album of the year

• Caity Gyorgy – Featuring
• Diana Panton – Blue
• Laura Anglade and Sam Kirmayer – Venez donc chez moi
• Nikki Yanofsky – Nikki by Starlight
• The Ostara Project – The Ostara Project

Jazz album of the year

• Ernesto Cervini – Joy
• Lauren Falls – A Little Louder Now
• Luis Deniz – El Tinajon
• Rafael Zaldivar – Rumba
• Renee Rosnes – Kinds of Love

Jazz album of the year

• Andrew Rathbun Quintet – Semantics
• BadBadNotGood – Talk Memory
• Carn Davidson 9 – The History of Us
• Florian Hoefner Trio – Desert Bloom
• Mark Kelso & the Jazz Exiles – The Dragon’s Tail

Instrumental album of the year

• Canadian Brass – Canadiana,
• Esmerine – Everything was Forever Until it was no More,
• Hard Rubber Orchestra – Iguana
• Jean-Michel Blais – Aubades
• Stephan Moccio – Lionheart

Album francophone de l’année

• Ariane Roy – Medium plaisir
• Daniel Bélanger – Mercure en mai
• Hubert Lenoir – Pictura de ipse: Musique directe
• Les Louanges – Crash
• Lisa LeBlanc – Chiac Disco

Children’s album of the year

• Beppie – Nice to Meet You
• Jeremy and Jazzy – Say Hello
• Splash’N Boots – I am Love
• Walk off the Earth and Romeo Eats – Walk off the Earth & Romeo Eats, Vol. 2
• Young Maestro and Keysha Freshh – Maestro Fresh Wes Presents: Julia the Great

Classical album of the year (solo artist)

• Bruce Liu – Winner of the 18th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition Warsaw 2021,
• David Jalbert – Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1
• Isabel Bayrakdarian – La Zingarella: Through Romany Songland
• James Ehnes – Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin
• Philip Chiu – Fables

Classical album of the year (large ensemble)

• Clara – Robert – Johannes: Lyrical Echoes, Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, conducted by Alexander Shelley
• Handel: Messiah, HWV 56, Ensemble Caprice, Ensemble Vocal Arts-Quebec, conducted by Matthias Maute, featuring Karina Gauvin
• Richard Strauss: Metamorphosen – Arvo Pärt: Symphonie No. 4, ‘Los Angeles,’ I Musici de Montréal, conducted by Jean-Marie Zeitouni
• Viola Borealis, Orchestre de l’Agora, conducted by Nicolas Ellis, featuring Marina Thibeault
• Radiant Dawn: Music for Advent and Christmas, The Elora Singers, conducted by Mark Vuorinen

Classical album of the year (small ensemble)

• Andrew Balfour and musica intima – Nagamo
• ARC Ensemble – Hemsi: Chamber Works
• collectif9 – Vagues et ombres
• Elinor Frey and Rosa Barocca, conducted by Claude Lapalme – Early Italian Cello Concertos
• Suzie LeBlanc, Marie Nadeau-Tremblay, Vincent Lauzer, and Sylvain Bergeron – De la cour de Louis XIV à Shippagan! Chants traditionnels acadiens et airs de cour du XVIIe siècle

Classical composition of the year

• Anthony Tan – An Overall Augmented Sense of Well-being
• Bekah Simms – Bestiary I & II
• Keyan Emami – The Black Fish
• Nicole Lizée – Prayers for Ruins
• Vincent Ho – Supervillain Études,

Rap album/EP of the year

• Boslen – Gonzo
• Classified – Retrospected (Acoustic)
• Jazz Cartier – The Fleur Print Vol. 2
• Nav – Demons Protected by Angels
• Tobi – Shall I Continue?

Dance recording of the year

• “Afterglow” – Bob Moses and Kasablanca
• “Shinigami Eyes” – Grimes
• “These Nights,” – Loud Luxury feat. Kiddo
• “Ctrl + Alt + Del” – Rêve
• “Spiral” – Rezz

Contemporary R&B recording of the year

• “When Flowers Bloom” – Adria Kain
• “If I Get Caught” – dvsn
• No Longer in the Suburbs – Dylan Sinclair
• Yessie – Jessie Reyez
• “WTF” – Savannah Ré

Reggae recording of the year

• “Water” – Ammoye
• “Like a Star” – Celena
• “Jah Love” – Exco Levi
• “In the Streets” – Kairo McLean
• “Reggae Party,” – Kirk Diamond, Kairo McLean and Finn feat. Kairo McLean

Contemporary Indigenous artist or group of the year

• Watin, Aysanabee
• Zhawenim, Digging Roots
• Code Red, Indian City
• Beyond the Reservoir, Julian Taylor
• The Crossing, Susan Aglukark

Contemporary roots album of the year

• Blackie and the Rodeo Kings – O Glory
• Fortunate Ones – That was you and Me
• Shakura S’Aida – Hold on to Love
• The Bros. Landreth – Come Morning
• The East Pointers – House of Dreams

Traditional roots album of the year

• Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves – Hurricane Clarice
• Le Vent du Nord – 20 printemps
• Mama’s Broke – Narrow Line
• Pharis & Jason Romero – Tell ‘Em You Were Gold
• The McDades – The Empress

Blues album of the year

• Angelique Francis – Long River
• Crystal Shawanda – Midnight Blues
• Harrison Kennedy – Thanks for Tomorrow
• Spencer Mackenzie – Preach to my Soul
• The Harpoonist & the Axe Murderer – Live at the King Eddy

Contemporary Christian/gospel album of the year

• Dan Bremnes – Into the Wild
• Daniel Ojo – Trust
• Jordan St. Cyr – Jordan St. Cyr
• Love & the Outcome – Only Ever Always
• Tehillah Worship – The Church Will Rise,

Global music album of the year

• Ghalia Benali, Constantinople, and Kiya Tabassian – In the Footsteps of Rumi
• Lenka Lichtenberg – Thieves of Dreams,
• Pierre Kwenders – José Louis and the Paradox of Love,
• Ruby Singh – Vox.Infold,
• Wesli – Tradisyon,

Jack Richardson producer of the year

• Akeel Henry: “For Tonight,” Giveon (co-producers Sevn Thomas, Jahaan Sweet); “Splash,” John Legend (co-producer Tone, Kevin Ekofo).
• Banx & Ranx: “Ctrl + Alt + Del,” Rêve; “Dynamite feat. Sia,” Sean Paul (co-producers Greg Kurstin, Jason Jigzagula Henriques).
• Kaytranada: “dog food,” IDK; “Iced Tea,” Joyce Wrice and Kaytranada.
• Mike Wise: “10 Things I Hate About You,” Leah Kate; “Yuck,” Charli XCX.
• Murda Beatz: “California Breeze,” Lil Baby (co-producer Marcel Korkutata); “Have Mercy,” Chlöe (co-producers Chlöe, BoogzDaBeast, Fnz, Joseph L’Etranger).

Recording engineer of the year

• Derek Hoffman: “My Body,” Lili-Ann De Francesco; “Stronger Than you Know,” the East Pointers.
• George Seara: “Hell/Heaven,” Keshi; “It’ll be Okay,” Shawn Mendes.
• Gus van Go: “Grow up Tomorrow,” the Beaches; “What Feels Like Eternity,” Metric.
• Jason Dufour: “She Don’t Know,” Jade Eagleson; “The old Me,” Ria Mae.
• Serban Ghenea: “That’s What I Want,” Lil Nas X; “Unholy,” Sam Smith feat. Kim Petras.

Album artwork of the year

• Emy Storey (art director, designer, photographer), Becca McFarlane and Pamela Littky (photographers): Crybaby, Tegan and Sara.
• Ian Ilavsky (art director and designer), Maciek Szczerbowski (illustrator): Everything was Forever Until it was no More, Esmerine.
• Jud Haynes (art director, designer): Kubasongs, Kubasonics.
• Kee Avil (art director), Lawrence Fafard (photographer): Crease, Kee Avil.
• Lights (art director, illustrator), Virgilio Tzaj (designer), Matt Barnes (photographer): PEP, Lights.

Music video of the year

• “Fraud” by Emma Higgins (Jessie Reyez)
• “Unholy” by Floria Sigismondi (Sam Smith and Kim Petras)
• “Have Mercy” by Karena Evans (Chlöe)
• “Different Than Before” by Mayumi Yoshida (Amanda Sum)
• “Remember me for Me” by Sterling Larose (SonReal and Lily Moore)

Electronic album of the year

• Mecha Maiko – Not OK
• Odonis Odonis – Spectrums
• Rezz – Nightmare on Rezz Street 2 Mix
• Rich Aucoin – Synthetic Season One
• Teen Daze – Interior

Metal/hard music album of the year

• Cancer Bats – Psychic Jailbreak
• Get the Shot – Merciless Destruction
• Skull Fist – Paid in Full
• Voivod – Synchro Anarchy
• Wake – Thought Form Descent

Adult contemporary album of the year

• Francois Klark – Adventure Book
• Jann Arden – Descendant
• Marc Jordan & Amy Sky – He Sang she Sang
• Michael Bublé – Higher
• Tyler Shaw – A Tyler Shaw Christmas

Comedy album of the year

• Courtney Gilmour – Let me Hold Your Baby,
• Jackie Pirico – Splash Pad,
• Jon Dore – A Person who is Gingerbread
• Matt Wright – Here Live, not a Cat
• Zabrina Douglas – Things Black Girls Say — the Album

Traditional R&B/soul recording of the year

• “Please Do Not Lean” – Daniel Caesar feat. BadBadNotGood
• “Palisade” – Jon Vinyl
• “All I Need” – Safe
• “How to Make Love” – TheHonestGuy
• “Last One” – Savannah Ré feat. Dylan Sinclair

Rap single of the year

• “Alejandro Sosa” – 6ixbuzz and Pengz
• “Been Himma” – Dom Vallie
• “Wrath” – Freddie Dredd
• “Twin Flame” – Kaytranada and Anderson .Paak
• “Wrong Decisions” – Nav

Underground dance single of the year

• “Debonair” – Bensley
• “Aye Aye” – Blond:ish and Cameron Jack
• “The Time Is (Now)” – Fred Everything
• “I Knew Techno” – Greg Gow
• “Easy” – Tiga

Traditional Indigenous artist or group of the year

• Kâkîsimo ᑳᑮᓯᒧᐤ, Cikwes
• Katajjausiit, Iva & Angu
• Mikwanak Kamôsakinat, Joel Wood
• Ôskimacîtahowin: A New Beginning, Northern Cree
• Unbreakable, the Bearhead Sisters

The “real” Walter White was last seen snacking in the desert for a Breaking Bad-themed Super Bowl commercial. Yet the darker side of his legend lives on, apparently in Russia, where a man dubbed as the “Russian Walter White” allegedly ran an amphetamine ring with his wife out of their apartment. The story is typically sketchy, as The Daily Beast reports, given that this duo claims to have only sold “fake” drugs while pulling the wool over customers’ eyes in order to raise money to save animals.

Yes, you read that correctly Diana Gribovskaya is the science teacher in this scenario, and Dmitry Karavaichik is her veterinarian husband. The pair received hefty prison sentences, and since Vladimir Putin has grown increasingly desperate for recruits, the Wagner Group (who Putin has hired as mercenaries for his Ukraine war) has now pulled in the husband for Putin’s cause. This does not bode well for the husband living, given that Putin recently cut off the ammo supply of Wagner, but Diana received a pardon in exchange for him essentially signing over his life. The Daily Beast has more details:

Reports had already emerged in January that Karavaichik had joined Wagner after an image was released showing the group’s founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, alongside former prisoners who had been cleared of their convictions after fighting in the war in Ukraine.

Independent Russian investigative group Agentstvo (The Agency) identified Karavaichik as one of the ex-convicts in the photo. The BBC said the group — which also allegedly included a murderer who had drowned his friend — were also given medals “for courage” after completing a six-month stint on the frontline..

With that detail, the story of this war grows ever messier. Russia recently notched their day of greatest losses in this conflict after 1,000 soldiers lost their lives fighting in Ukraine. Putin has also taken to recruiting female convicts after restocking the Russian army with a hefty supply of male convicts. And it seems that the Russian version of Walter White could suffer a fate worse than his alleged inspiration in the AMC show. As they say, war is hell.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Hip-hop fans were dismayed to learn that long-running mixtape streaming site DatPiff — whose existence even predates that of more mainstream DSPs like Spotify — had shut down yesterday, leading to a period of mourning on social media for one of the pillars of the modern-day internet.

That is until DatPiff’s Twitter account popped up with a message reassuring users that the service was still alive and well. “Despite the rumors, we are happy to report that we will still be supplying you with all the mixtapes you love,” it read. “We’re working through technical issues on our site and app, but still actively update our youtube! Thanks for all the love and concerns but we promise, we are still here.”

So, what gives?

Well, you know how I’m constantly harping at you all about making sure you get your news from trustworthy sources? Yeah. Reddit.com is not a trustworthy source. Apparently, a subscriber of the subreddit r/hiphop101 interpreted some of these technical glitches as a sign that the company had completely folded. That post was then shared widely among hip-hop heads on social media — there’s an Instagram screenshot of the Reddit screenshot in the tweet below, courtesy of Complex — and it seems everyone pretty much ran with this story without confirming it via any legit news publications or first-person accounts.

DatPiff, which hosts mixtapes from both megastars and up-and-coming artists, holds a unique place in hip-hop history. Because it was easier to upload a new tape to the site directly than going through Apple Music (formerly iTunes, the only real name in the streaming game at the time), many artists got their start by sharing DatPiff links with their fans in the early days of social media. That includes names like ASAP Rocky, Big Sean, Drake, J. Cole, and Kendrick Lamar, among others (I wrote about some of them here). The entire blog rap era basically ran on DatPiff (and illegal file-sharing sites like ZippyShare and MegaUploads), and fans were quick to acknowledge its importance while (mistakenly) eulogizing the site.

Of course, with the reveal that the site wasn’t shutting down (yet), it seems that those flowers, while warranted, were premature. If the site can itself back up and running, now might be a good time to download all your favorite tapes for posterity — just in case. If not, well, there’s always LiveMixtapes.